


Grand Oceans of Design

by orphan_account



Series: Estardiem [1]
Category: Iron Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Alpha!Steve, Alpha!Thor, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Beta!Bruce, Beta!Loki, Beta!Tony, Clint is a bird, F/M, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Knotting, M/M, Mangled EVERYTHING, Marriage of Convenience, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Natasha is Poisonous, Omegaverse, Romantic Comedy, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-22
Updated: 2014-07-03
Packaged: 2017-12-20 23:51:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/893362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He dreamt every night of things that he knew wouldn't pass. The dynamics of their lifestyle would hold him sound to his life that he would have no escape to. Blue eyes would never be paired with the green that he so wished for, never mixing into the grand ocean of designs and desire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [foreverflame](https://archiveofourown.org/users/foreverflame/gifts).



> And welcome to a brand new [to you] fic. I've been brain storming ideas for this puppy for the past week and have been bouncing ideas off of a friend of mine every time a new one comes along.  
> I can warn you now, the style will be choppy as its written from one persons view to another, but I still appreciate you reading it. c:  
> I can't write chapters at the speed of light and I can't write very long chapters unless I force myself to, so I really apologize if there isn't a lot to read each time. But I just let my mind run on ideas and see where they take me.  
> But besides that, this fic is an estranged buttday present to the Loki to my Tony. I hope you enjoy our fic as it comes to life!
> 
> And yes, this prologue is as vague and short as I wanted it to be. Suck it up you losers. C:  
> Also, the rating will go up as I write, its just marked as Teen and Up while its still PG. Expect Mature at the least by the end.

He felt lost.

He could barely feel his fingers and toes, the simple garments he wore that day were nothing that could manage to keep him warm enough to survive much longer in that winters blizzard. He pulled his scarf over his head a bit, shielding his ears from the bitter wind as best as he could. It was obvious he would never see him again at this rate. They were too far apart, too different, and he was just a black smiths son. There was no chance in Hell.

That day though, he had decided to leave. He had travelled safely in the light dusting of snow before the blizzard had hit. He was starting to think it was all a bad idea, gone from bad to worse though with every step he took and every minute that he remained out in the forest and tried to move forward. He wasn’t sure where the main road was anymore, and he blindly walked, not caring at all. He wasn’t going to remain where he was if it meant he couldn’t be with the person he truly loved.

Soon enough his legs gave out under his body, and he crashed to the ground, snow softening his landing. He still tried to curl himself up as well as he could before trying once again to stand. He wasn’t going to give up, no matter what happened.

There was only one direction that he could keep going, and that was forward.

When he opened his eyes in the snow though, he seen a pair of brown boots tied up with leather laces in his views. As far as he knew he had not hit a wall, so he looked up from where the boots started and squinted as well as he could to make out the form of a woman, dirty blonde hair draped over her shoulders in two loose ribbons. She knelt closer to see him on the ground, mitted hands placing their warmth on his head.

“We have to get him inside as soon as we can. He won’t survive out here much longer.” She helped him to his feet as well as her lithe form allowed before a larger form took his own and moved him forward, completely unknown of where he was going.

He cracked open his chapped lips to say something, but his voice was lost in his throat, unable to say anything in retort to them removing him from his path. He had to keep going forward no matter what.

It was his only choice after all.

“I’m not entirely sure that he’s all there still, Miss.”

“We can’t leave him here to die though!”

He didn’t know these voices, and he no longer had the energy to open his eyes to see what transpired around him.

“He will come around, I can guarantee it! The poor boy just needs to warm up, get some warm stew into him, and then he will be fine…”

It was warmer now, but he knew not how. His thoughts were starting to jumble up and he wasn’t sure at all about everything that was happening.

“It’ll be fine… Shh… You’re fine now.”

He had no idea where he was going, but he had one idea.

No matter where it was, he at least was going forward.


	2. Chapter One : A Blurry Disappointing Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh whoops I should work on my other fics not this one, ehehehe.

He awoke with a start that morning, the curtains ripped to the side of his windows. A low groan escaped his lips as he rolled himself over in bed, pulling the blankets over his head. He was not a morning person. He would never be a morning person. Mornings probably had to have been the worst possible invention that he ever knew of, but everyone had to deal with them and he didn’t know why. Well, especially since he had stayed up until most likely ungodly hours the night before or something. It was a science thing. Or a Tony thing. He didn’t know he just did it and it happened and everyone really could shut up whatever talking they were doing right now because he wasn’t in the mood for any of it but the blankets were being torn off him and uuuuuugh, light was back.

“Jarvis! I thought I told you don’t wake me up before noon today! I was busy working on a new sword last night for the coronation coming up and why are you not listening?” he groaned again, curling up into the best ball he could manage. He was sore and tired and light really was the worst fucking thing around right now. There was no telling him otherwise. Ever actually.

“Sir, your honorable mother and father have requested your audience at breakfast as they have something they wish to speak to you about.” His accent was from a further kingdom than their own, though Tony had been raised around it partially adapted himself to the accent as well, odd words he pronounced reflecting the butlers speech.

He stretched his legs out and his feet just jutted out from the bed. What did they want to talk about this morning? The fact that his father, Howard, wanted to speak to him, was nothing new. He was most likely going to chastise him for poor choice in bed mates, or yell at him for doing science instead of sleeping again the night before. He yawned at the thought, but a fact still blinked at the back of his mind. His mother wished to speak to him as well, so he was fairly confused still at what she would have wanted to speak to him about.

He sat himself up and hopped off the bed, the silk shirt being shed from his torso quickly as he looked over to Jarvis, a questioning look on both of their faces. His blue eyes fell from Jarvis before he went back to stripping from his night wear and into something much more suitable for the task at hand. His pants slid down from his hips to the floor the moment he undid their tie-up, more silk pooling at his feet now as he stepped out of them and towards his dresser on the far wall. He ripped open drawer after drawer before Jarvis came over with a bundle in his arms.

“I thought this would be fitting for your meeting with your parents, sir.” He stretched them out in front of him; a pair of black slacks, a white dress shirt, a simple black vest, and a red tie to almost tie it all together. The coat that Jarvis had picked out for him to wear with it was draped across the door knob of his closet, the tails just reaching the floor. He grabbed the dress shirt and pants from Jarvis first, pulling each on without much difficulty. He did up the tie on his pants and each button calmly on his shirt. The tie was quickly added on as well, though it was more a sloppy knot that gave the entire ordeal more of a personal touch of his own. He smirked before he took the vest from Jarvis lastly, throwing it on and doing up the few buttons before throwing the coat over his shoulders. “We ready to go, Jarv?” he flashed a smile before he ran his fingers through his hair and headed out of his room and down the stairs.

In the main room to his residence, his mother and father sat adjacent to each other on one of the large couches they had. The hearth was still burning brightly, the cold frost of winter still heavily upon them all, though soon enough most of the cold of winter was bound to start being worn off in the heat of spring. He bowed lightly before he sat himself down in a chair near them both, his coat being tossed over the arm as he crossed his legs. “So, what’s the reason for today’s chat?” he asked, a smile playing gracefully on his lips as he leaned back, his eyes still on his parents.

His mother was the first to speak.

“Anthony. We have told you many times that this isn’t a kingdom that we reside in, correct?” her voice was gentle, like that of speaking to a child. In all means, she was speaking to her own child, but as he was nearly eighteen he wasn’t much of a child anymore in his own eyes. Tony nodded in response to her though, his eyes set to her own as she continued, “our family is not one of royalty, though every kingdom sees our family as an equal status to theirs because we are the sole family left from the ancient protectors of our kingdoms.”

What she spoke of, Tony knew of already. He had been told stories of a group of families that protected their realms through the histories. Each family protected one kingdom though never fought with the others. It was in a way, the only reason why each kingdom had survived so long without destroying another kingdom. Over the years though because of genetics, one family at a time had no successor, and now, the Stark family was the last remaining one. Tony, their only child, and against Howard’s luck and wishes, was born a Beta.

He was born one of the most intelligent protectors on record, but there was no way that Tony would be able to protect all of the kingdoms himself. He was one person, and he could only do so much. His eyes stayed on his mother as he tried to understand what she was trying to get at. There was no way that Tony was able to have a child with anyone. When someone was born a Beta at this time it basically meant that unless they were the father that they couldn’t have a child. There was the very small chance a Beta would be born a High Leveled one, one that could bear a child, but they were few and far between, the last having been seen over a hundred years ago.

“Mother…what are you trying to get at?” Tony spoke up. “You know I’m the useless end to this family as father keeps putting it, so there’s no use even bothering with m-“ There was a growl from his father before his mother stood up and looked down at Howard.

“Silence. The both of you.” She looked back towards walking over to Tony. “Anthony. We are going to be holding a ball soon at the residence. It will take place three month before your birthday, and by your birthday we are both hoping that you will choose a suitor from one of the kingdoms to leave our last ties in. Because once you pass on, our family will be no more.” Her voice almost sounded disappointed, but she refused to let it reflect harshly into her words. Tony however blinked, then started to laugh almost maniacally before he covered his face with his hands and arms and curled up on his chair, trying to catch his own breath.

Maria frowned slightly before placing a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Anthony…are you alright?” She ran her fingers gently through his hair before rubbing his back, helping to regain the ability to breathe and his composure in a way. He soon rose from his ball, just barely watching his father storm out of the room when he looked up at his mother.

“Only because you are the one who asked me to do this, I will. I just hope I don’t disappoint you in my decision of who I want…I’m not much of an Alpha or an Omega person. I tend to mainly go for whoever catches my eye and can keep my heart…” He reminisced for a moment of a love he once had, though the two had decided that being friends and caring for each other was more than good enough. She still visited around the residence, but remained working in the city as no one really worked for or under the Stark’s family. He sighed before he stood up, his height alike to his mothers now, but he towered over her just enough to know that he was taller.

She traced her fingers down the side of his face, resting them lower and against his jaw. “Anthony, I will be pleased with whoever you decide to spend the rest of your life with. Just know that I will love you no matter what,” she whispered to him before removing her hand from his face. “Now, your father and I have preparations that must be begun before we send out invitations to the ball. There will be many a guest but there will be one Alpha invited from each royal family to be considered so that you may at least not disappoint them. Consider them each equally when you see them, alright?”

Tony rolled his eyes silently, but smiled. “Steven and Thor are both great big bundles of Alpha testosterone. If I don’t talk to them at least once, they’ll have my head on a platter for their kings to show how disrespectful the great protector family Stark’s son did not give them a time of day to speak with him. Don’t worry, mother! I will talk to them all to calm their royal butts.” He winked before he took a step away from her and bowed. “Now, I’m going to take my leave to go and eat some breakfast. Please excuse me mother.”

“Please Anthony, think about it. It will happen in a month, and you must decide on one as a suitor by your birthday. The marriage will not happen until you are twenty, so you will have two years to learn and get to know about your spouse.” Tony nodded and waved his mother off, as much as it hurt him to do so. She was most likely the only person in this damn place who cared about him unconditionally, unless you count the fact that she was his mother, which Tony really didn’t want to think too hard about.

He walked away and didn’t even bother with the kitchen, bypassing it and heading straight to his room, closing the door behind him before he dropped himself down onto his bed and carded his fingers through his hair. He knew his parents were just doing what they thought was good for him, but really, Tony thought it wasn’t going to at all. Ever. Picking one side to leave your legacy attached to seemed like the stupidest idea ever. In the future it was basically the family saying to others that the last protector family chose their kingdom and family to protect and then they’d use that as a bargaining chip and it really was beyond all belief the stupidest. Thing. Ever. Hands down.

He rolled over before he looked at his hands now in front of his face, the shaking that had started earlier on his walk back up having not calmed down yet at all. He wasn’t scared, more so livid that his parents were going to try and decide his life for him. He grabbed a feather stuffed pillow and chucked it at his door before he curled up again like he had downstairs. This time he wasn’t laughing though, now he stayed there and just thought about what he was going to do.

His birthday was at the end of the fifth month of the year. It was currently the end of the first. He had a month before the ball was to take place where he would play merry and host with the lot of them, decide some poor bloke that he would never care for, then on his birthday would announce it to the public, and two years after that he would marry the poor soul and never live the life he wanted to again. None of this seemed any fair at all to him, but he was doomed to this ridiculous life from being the last in the Stark line.

Anthony Edward Stark, the last of their kingdoms hopes and dreams, tamed by the name of a royal family that would abuse the name of his family for generations to come. Until he was long forgotten and the protectors would no longer matter at all. Then Anthony Edward Stark would no longer matter as anything, and in the end would not have mattered who he had chosen in the start.

Seventeen year old Tony hated his life.


	3. Chapter Two: A Cliff's Edge Thought

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't beta, can you tell?

"That’s quite the heads up they gave you, wasn’t it?”

“You’re telling me.” His voice that day was low and grumbled as he worked on his current project. It wasn’t anything extravagant but it kept him as distracted as he could. There were obvious…events that had come around which made him loathe his life even worse than he seemed to usually do, which was a fair bit depending on the circumstances. Tony looked over to his right to see a brunette about his height, though his eyes were a green, almost brilliant, seeming to reflect his intelligence. He adjusted his glassed before he pushed on Tony’s arm lightly.

“Stop staring at me, Tony. It gets awkward.” He returned to his work as Tony did as well before he continued. “Though its exactly what I was thinking. As much as Beta’s as cherished as children in royal families, they aren’t as cherished among the protecting families, because think of it, they want the strongest smartest kid ever. Which would insinuate they want only Alpha’s as children along the line. If a Beta was to have children it would have to be with an Omega, which would lower the chances in a way they won’t like. So that’s why they’re inviting only alpha’s to your ball.”

Tony groaned as he dropped his tool onto the counter and looked at his standing neighbor. “Bruce. Good buddy of mine Bruce, I’d rather marry you than the great big oafs that all the Alpha princes are. And us together have no chance at having a child at all. So it shouldn’t matter, right?” He shook the other tool he held towards Bruce as he spoke, “and besides, you know how well Pepper and I worked out. Which wasn’t much. She’s angry at me almost all the time for risking my life with the whole protector business and stuff like, well, this,” he pointed to the chemicals that Bruce was working with, “that I highly doubt anyone would want to actually be with me and be able to handle it.”

Bruce shook his head lightly and chuckled, stopping what he was doing to let his project sit for a second. “Not to mention that they’d either lose status as a prince and be a commoner, or you’d be in the time and no longer would have a child to carry on their own line. I bet this was your fathers idea.” He shrugged before to took another tube and dripped the contents slowly into the beaker the rest was sitting in.

“For a commoner you make a hell of a lot of sense Bruce, and I love that about you! Please will you marry me because all the gods and everything know that I will die in the first five minutes of a relationship with an Alpha. Please please please _please_?” He begged as fast as he spoke the ramble, the last please as drawn out as he could make I to emphasize the fact that he would kill himself if he had to marry an Alpha. 

Bruce cocked a brow up at Tony before he rolled his eyes and chuckled. “The prince of Midgard already knows about it, Tony. He’s invited me as his guest to bring, which means it would be terribly rude if I fell in love with you and we ran away together. So sorry, Tony, it isn’t happening.” Tony started cussing before he put his tools down and crossed his arms over his chest. He made a huffy noise before he started pouting. 

“That’s not fair at all.”

“Prince Steve knows that, that’s why he’s bringing me.”

“AUGH. Well that sucks. I bet the person from every kingdom that is labeled as a guest would be my only escape for all of them. Which really sucks. Royally. Because the royalty will be stopping me from marrying them. Fuck fuck fuck. Fuckity fuck. I hate royalty.” He groaned as he dropped down into a chair not to far from where he stood and leaned his head as far back as it would allow him to do.

Walking over to Tony, Bruce smiled gently. “I heard Prince Thor from Asgard is bringing his younger brother though. So I suppose he’d be safe to if you want to marry him? And then Prince Clint has the biggest romantic interest in Princess Natasha. So those two kingdoms are pretty good without you.” Tony blinked as he looked up at Bruce and scrunched up his nose.

“You sure know a lot for a regular dude, you know that, right?” 

“I do. But don’t worry, you have a month to prepare and narrow down who you want to choose before the ball, then three months after to pick who you want to doom yourself to after. Relax and just…don’t panic. We all know you’re prone to doing that every now and then.” He placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder before pulling off the gloves he had personally decided to wear and dropped them on the table. “I’m done for the day, so I’m going to head back home, alright?” 

“Yeah. Safe trip, okay? It’s still pretty cold and miserable out there and all.” He sat up, a worried look on his face for his friend, his eyes reflecting it the most as his brows bunched up a bit in the centre. Bruce reassured him though before he grabbed his coat and pulled it on, tying all the straps together and pulling the fur trimmed hood over his head, framing his face before he walked out of Tony’s workshop and into the snowy wonderland outside. 

He ran to the door to watch as Bruce walked off into the woods. The estate that the Starks resided at was located out of the main kingdom in Midgard, but close to the border of Asgard. It was in the middle of a densely packed forest, no fence to mark the outskirts of the property as anyone could come and go, their property almost like neutral grounds between each of the kingdoms. It let anyone come and go, Tony having personally befriended and inviting over a fair few citizens from each kingdom over the past four years.

When he seen that Bruce had safely made it onto the main path, he grabbed his cloak and pulled it over his shoulders loosely before he left the building, locking it behind him. He ran to the main building and opened the door, closing it swiftly behind him knowing that Jarvis would chastise him again if he didn’t close it, letting the heat escape. Not that he knew why he would have to that day. He ripped off the cloak, hung it up, and pulled out his own heavy winter coat, his own a deep red unlike Bruce’s natural browns. He tied up each tie before he pulled his own hood up and stepped out of the house again, his boots making easy work on navigating the snow. 

As he looked up at the sky, its ceiling was fairly low that day, the clouds blocking out the direct sun light even though the atmosphere was still bright. He looked to his right, left, forward, then took a sharp left turn and began running into the trees. Where he was going, Tony never needed a pathway to follow. He knew the way to his favorite place without the need for landmarks or anything at all. He had found it by mistake years ago when he had fought with his father, his mother later finding him out there and staring out at the sky.

The trees got thicker as he bounded through the snow, further and further from his estate. He didn’t care how tired he would be after he made it there, there was no need to rush back after he reached it, and he would most likely remain there for a good few hours. He ducked under a low lying branch and jumped over a fallen tree before he made it to a small lake in a clearing, the surface was solid, but dusted in snow. It had moving water beneath the surface, so he had learn years ago not to run across it on his way. He treaded carefully the easiest way around before he walked the rest of the way to the cliffs edge he wanted.

The moment the trees cleared out, all that was left to see was skies to as far as he could imagine, the land of Asgard falling out below him. He stood on the border of the lands, his toes just inches from falling off the cliff and sending him to his end. He took a deep breath before he sat himself down into the snow and used his arms to support him as he leaned further back and looked up. There was something about this scenery that he could never get bored of. He was there most days to avoid his fathers wrath and annoyance, but recently he had begun to go there as a way to relax and calm himself down. He took another deep breath before he shook his hood off and closed his eyes; letting his mind blindly reel around whatever thoughts he had, almost letting them escape his conscious. 

There was one month before he had to face the decision of meeting everyone at the event. He was a social person, there was no doubt about it, but his social butterfly-ness mostly resided in him wanting to be there. Being forced to such events wasn’t what he wanted, but he wouldn’t disappoint his mother, no matter what he wanted or didn’t want. He opened his eyes again before he let his eyes drop down to the kingdom of Asgard.

The rolling hills, forests, and cities were built taller and more guarded than that of Midgard, but Midgard was more of a merchant and trading kingdom, one that Tony reflected on personally, many of the newest inventions around were ones that he himself had made and sold off to someone to pick up the pieces for. It was kinda his thing; make stuff that was amazing, then just pick up odd dollars here or these as others got most of the fame. As a protector he was meant to stay in the shadows as well as he could, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t brighten up the spotlight with his own inventions.

But he shook off his thought before he rolled himself around on to his stomach and shuffled closer to the edge, his elbows placed carefully on it as he used his arms to prop up his head, soon to drop down on one arm as the other stretched out as if he was attempting to grab at something. His eyes lazily glanced over the sky and kingdom. One day he would be free of all of this madness. Right now though, he was stuck right in the middle of it and he would make the best of it that he could. He closed his eyes as he let himself drift off.

* * *

 

The moment he returned inside, sniffling and sneezing, his mother lifted a brow up and cocked a small worrying smile to her son. He had fallen asleep on the cliffs edge and managed not to fall off it, but landed himself a decent sniffle, and possibly a cold. He shrugged off his coat before he took his usual indoor jacket and pulled it on, walked over to her. “Hey, mother.”

“You fell asleep again, didn’t you?” she tilted her head to the side in curiosity although she knew the answer very well. Her son chuckled softly and rubbed his nose with the back of his hand.

“Yeah. Not much to hide there, is there?” He shuffled his boots off before he grabbed a pair of pants Jarvis had just brought him, his own current soaking wet from the snow and sitting in it. His mother shook her head before she shooed him off to get changed, Tony leaving with a wave and promising to be down for dinner.

She sighed softly the moment that Tony was far enough away. Jarvis noticed quickly and looked over to her. “Are you well, ma’am?” he inquired, offering her his hand in assistance.

Maria chuckled quietly before she declined the hand with a gentle headshake. “I’m fine. Just worried about Anthony is all… We didn’t have many other choices left with our decision… I just hope that Tony doesn’t hold a grudge against us in the end of it all because of this though… He’s acting fine right now, but the fact that he’s been out to the cliff’s edge often in the past few days, and even fell asleep there, is worrying for me…”

“If I may speak, ma’am,” Jarvis started before Maria nodded and allowed him, “the young sir is very strong, and I am sure that he will pick the one he wishes to. He won’t hold anything against you in the future because he himself knows that this is for the good of the family, as much as he dislikes the choice himself. Rest at ease, ma’am.” She smiled and nodded softly to Jarvis. Yes, he was a bright young adult, and he could make his decisions wisely. Yet still, she worried as she walked off to attend to her other business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was thinking of making this a "series" [if might be anyways] but making another story on here explaining the kingdoms, history and such for anyone who wants to know more. Anyone interested?


	4. Chapter Three: The Grande Ball

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, more food for thought. And no worries, Loki SHOULD be popping up next chapter. <3

Commotion that morning was something that seemed almost too normal. It was the morning of the ball, and so every kingdom palace was in a ruckus as they prepared their princes for the event that evening. Steven Rogers was busying himself with his clothes and Bruces’, Clint was worrying about what Natasha would think, and Natasha really held no interest at all. Thor Odinson though, was busy trying to convince his brothers to join him.

“Come! It will be a merry time and many a people will be there!” He boomed out, his older and younger brother then proceeded to look at each other then to Thor, the younger producing a soft sigh in annoyance as the other chuckled softly, shaking his head lightly. One of them had to go, it had become an order from their father two have two choices for the Protector to be wed to and link with, giving himself a better chance to gain the upper hand later in time. Thor was the main chosen for he was a strong warrior himself, and could even out with Anthony’s intelligence, making the two a team well worth fighting against. The younger brother also expected it was easily because of some favoritism, but his eldest brother frowned and glared at him when he muttered this weeks before, knowing that he held a grudge for some reason he didn’t know about.

It was however the day of the ball, and one or the other would have to decide to go with their middle brother, and when Odin had walked into the room and demanded that one get ready now, one shook his head no, while the other let out a soft sigh and nodded, tension in his shoulders as he walked off to prepare for the night ahead of him.

* * *

 

Not as surprisingly as he could imagine it, a month seemed to fly by in no time at all, and that meant that Tony was now stuck having to sport his best garments and flash his best smile to a bunch of people he really didn’t want to even think of bothering with. He stood in front of his mirror as he pulled on the sleeve of his favorite dress jacket, the edges and seams starting to look a little ratty, but in all sincerity he didn’t care at all, and that meant that he would be a little comfortable while he dealt with very very boring higher ups, or as his mother reminded him, equals in position but not status. He brushed her comments off quickly before he looked at the clock and swallowed what little saliva was in his mouth before he left his room swiftly, taking a turn down the hall towards the entrance hall where the ball was taking place.

The moment he peaked out from around the hall and into it, it was packed. He could pick out officials from different kingdoms before he took a deep breath and walked out onto the stairway leading down to the floor. The moment he took a step onto the middle staircase though, all eyes fell on him. He froze. It was as weird as hell since usually attention was an okay thing for him, but he froze for a second before he chuckled (as forced as it was) and waved his arms a bit, “Don’t mind me! Continue with your conversations!”

Not a single person spoke though, which made him feel a bit more uneasy before he started walked down the stairs, and the faces he had to notice made themselves present in the centre of the room, most of them at the bottom on the stairs. Prince Steven Rogers of Midgard, Prince Thor Odinson of Asgard, Prince Clint Barton of Thareria, Princess Natasha Romanov of Lanvia, and then…Prince Baldur Odinson from Asgard as well it seemed. So that’s who Bruce had meant earlier. When he reached the bottom of the stairs finally he smiled and bowed lightly to them all before he looked them each over carefully.

“So, who called first dibs to talk with me?” His idle chatter made a couple chuckle, and Natasha spoke up first, running her hands through her red hair absentmindedly before she stepped back.

“I was only summoned here because I am an Alpha and it would be rude if our kingdom didn’t offer one hand at least. But I have my alliances with another man than you, so if you’ll excuse me.” With that, she simply bowed out and walked away, leaving Tony a little awestruck, but he shrugged anyways and looked to Clint next.

“I’m basically the same, Stark. I’m here because they asked me to be,” he mumbled before rubbing the back of his head.

“Go chase your love interest. I know you like Princess Natasha, now shoo shoo bird boy!” Tony laughed as he waved him off to go, which seemed to literally ruffle the princes feathers a bit, the odd tufts a little more apparently as he ran after the red-head into the crowds of people, leaving Tony with Thor, Baldur and Steve in front of him.

Steve took a step back though and smiled. “I know you well enough as is Tony, it’s alright if you talk to them first.” And he simply blended into the mobs of people as he walked off to find Bruce and talk to him. Lucky asshole. In reality, even though all the nine kingdoms were invited, he wasn’t surprised some had not made it. Asgard, Midgard, Lanvia and Thareria were the only ones without married children, leaving them the best for this position it seemed. Made Tony’s job easier at least in a sense.

So he was stuck spending the first of his night speaking with Thor and Baldur, who were equally as brawn as each other, but luckily at least Baldur seemed to have some brains to him. It was one thing that definitely pleased Tony, which in the end was making him one of the first choices of the evening if he had to start picking already. The conversations between the three of them generally revolved around what Thor had accomplished as a grand warrior in Asgard, along with Baldur occasionally jutting in to tell Tony the truth of each of these moments before he let his younger brother continue acting like he hadn’t done anything at all. Thor took it in strides and continued, and when he finished his stories, he apparently wanted to let Tony talk then, so happy to oblige, he did.

Tony started with talking about his own few feats that he could bring up in public with others, Baldur and Thor kept quiet the entire time, smiling and nodding in silence as Tony started to get more animated with his stories himself, drawing Steve and Bruce over as well. He really didn’t know what got into him, but he kept talking, a smile covering his face as he seen Bruce and Steve join as he continued his story. The end of his story took another hour or so after Thor’s two-hour accomplishment rant he most likely recited to almost everyone. By that time though, Tony was mostly smiles, having quite gotten into the roll of the ball, though he dismissed himself from everyone to go and stand out on the balcony to the second level, the crisp winter hair still there as he breathed it in, a chill running through his bones as he closed his eyes.

The door creaked open again though behind him and he turned to look at it, the form of an Asgardian there, though Tony’s heart skipped a beat, pleased it wasn’t Thor at least. “Hey, any reason why I was followed out for my thinking time?” he mused before he shuffled over, letting Baldur come stand beside him to look out at the night sky. Blue eyes scanned over Baldur’s form before he looked up at his face and smiled softly. “So, what’s up?” He let slip from his lips before he looked back out over the trees and winters air.

The Asgardian shifted a bit before he looked over to Tony, a soft frown on his lips as he finally spoke. “You are taking this fairly well even though this is a very abrupt and sudden thing your parents have thrust upon you, Anthony.”

A soft roll of his eyes. The guy was smarter than the rest but he basically repeated the same word twice. Smart ass. He has a brain but it seemed that Asgardian’s couldn’t figure out that some words meant the same things. He needed exactly the same thing Tony did, a brain to mouth filter to stop stupid things from coming out. But like hell Tony was ever going to be getting one of those.

He put his weight on his opposite foot before he shrugged forward over the railing, letting his hands and arms hang out into the snow that had just started to fall in the darkness. Spreading his fingers wide, he caught snowflake after snowflake, the heat of his body though melting them on impact. Sighing, he looked out at nothing in particular this time before he carefully worded his answer for Baldur. “To tell the blunt truth? I’m not taking this well. They’re deciding exactly what they want me to do without caring about my opinion. I want to punch them both in the faces then take the ceremonial sword I’m currently making and chop their heads off and watch them roll.” He let the last part come out with a soft hiss, a moment to express his displeasure is sound, not words.

Baldur simply nodded though and understood, because by the looks of it Thor was the chosen golden son who the king had chosen as his pick for Tony. Well, would you look at that he was already going to be upsetting one person, nothing new. But Baldur still spoke up, “In these times, it is no longer our families trying to live peacefully, because you are the last thing holding us together in peace, Anthony, so after you have picked your betrothed, then after that war may arise at any time against who you pick in jealousy and anger of your choices.” He took a deep breath and let his eyes fall down towards the ground covered in snow. “Sadly, its no longer any able to live their life so peacefully. Your decisions may make or break kingdoms apart, and your parents most likely knew you would not pick knowing that, so they simplified it and still forced it upon you. I apologize for their actions, Anthony, but it had to be done.”

Okay, so maybe this guy wasn’t a total dumb shit. He was pretty insightful, which caused Tony to sign and nod, knowing that there was no other choice. He looked over to him though, eyes lining up as the feelings made it across, and he let his shoulders drop. “So, Baldur, right?” There was a nod, so apparently he didn’t fuck things up too badly yet. “So, out of everyone, you’re kinda the one I like the most, meaning that I’d rather deal with you over my own kingdom’s prince. But whatever. But I was hoping we could get together, or I could just literally grab a book in your room and read and you can do whatever so people think I picked someone so that I can not marry anyone? I just…if you understand my point of view, I don’t want to marry just anyone, whether this is about peace or not. I can make my own choices and I’m going to, so I was hoping we could put up a façade or something? Have me seen come in and out of your room with you, we can talk, hell yes, you have a brain better than the rest right now and I’d appreciate anothers opinions on things, but really, I just want my life… if its not too much to ask?”

Baldurs expression was mostly blank as Tony spoke, registering everything, but soon enough it softened up, and by the end he has smiling softly and placed a cold hand on Tony’s shoulder. “I would gladly, Anthony. I have someone whom I wish to be betrothed to anyways, so if you can find your perfect partner because I helped, then I will gladly do so. Now, lets both return inside before the others suspect things of us out here.”

He blinked, and burst out laughing before he leaned in to the Asgardian’s ear and whispered gently, “Thank you.” Before he stood up, a secret smile on his face, and walked back into the main room, holding the door open for Baldur as he followed him in.


	5. Chapter Four: Childrens Books

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOPS, that was a bit longer to get written than I thought. :C

His first trip to Asgard happened right after the ball. Well, not right after, about a week after. He had told his mother and father that he was going to go and speak to the Odinson sons and see what was up and their opinions on the party and himself, because damn he wasn’t going to marry anyone who didn’t think well of him. And his parents believed it, every single second of it and so he hopped into a carriage and began the slow and quiet ride there. He had no company, to trinkets to tinker with, and was dressed well, semi-appropriately. He wore his favourite coat though, black slacks, but today he wore just a simple red dyed dress shirt, the colour rich and beautiful, something he fell in love with when his eyes made contact with it.

 

He brushed out the ruffles a bit as he watched the trees and hills pass by on his travels. It was about a half days ride there, and he would be staying for a week to get to know them. He was safe enough to at least not need to do that with Steven because he had seen him often enough as is, so he was going to dedicate a good bit of time with the only person he wanted to look like he was caring about, and that was Baldur.

 

His thoughts were messed up though, he tugged at his hair a bit as he looked back into the carriage he was in, the crack of a whip sounded ahead of him as the horses picked up speed again. A sigh passed by his lips before he curled up on the seat and rested his head on his knees, legs pulled tight and close to his body. A strangled sound, close to a groan, made its way from his throat and into the cool air of the carriage. The ride would be long, but it would all be worth it, right? It was the way he was seeing things and he wasn’t going to go back on it now.

 

The ride took a little more than half a day, he arrived at the Odinson’s palace closer to seven in the evening, his stomach growling as he was hoping to get there a lot sooner. He had woken up ridiculously early that morning to leave and be there by dinner that they were going to have ready for him. But fucking hell winter weather was never any sort of help, it was a pain in the ass and really, there was never going to be any luck in that department for him. He groaned when they had hit a blizzard, small as it had been, and they had to stop in the nearest town for an hour until it died down again enough for them to push onwards.

 

But as the carriage finally rolled up through the main gates and towards the palace that Tony had mainly just watched from his cliff edge, he woke up from the doze of a nap he was having and sat up, looking out the window to watch everything pass by. It was on much lower ground than his own residence, the snow not as heavily covering the environment compared to his own mountain. It still was there though, a bit of a reminder that he wasn’t in an entirely different world than before. The door swung open and he stepped down, immediately almost slipping on the ice hidden under the soft snowfall on the ground, he grabbed at the door and just caught himself. Wow, excellent first impression Tony. You are a diamond in the rough, aren’t you?

 

He heard a snicker from somewhere to his left and further forward, Thor was standing there with Baldur, watching as Tony stood himself up a bit better. “Are you not accustomed to ice on the ground, Anthony?” the blonde boomed, trying to hide his laughter but failing pretty nicely if Tony had any say in it.

 

“I actually really am. Its snowier up there on my cliff,” he grumbled before he brushed his coat off instinctually and walked over to them, but not before pointing back to his cliff he could see in the distance. “My feet just aren’t use to lack of movement for such a long time. I’m usually working on something or another back at home. I keep my hands busy, and with that my feet follow suit.” He let his shoulders shrug as he walked the last of the distance to bring himself next to, oh god these guys were basically towering GIANTS compared to Tony. It made him kind of sick and disgusted but he chose these guys to come and see, so god damn it he was going to deal with it and be the short fucker there today. Shortest. Fucker. Ever.

 

Thor seemed to take that as a suitable answer, and held out a hand for Tony to shake, which he did. It was a firm grip and he only did it for all the formalities and being proper, which Tony usually wasn’t. But he could hold his snarky tongue for a week, as well as he could anyways, and be polite. He smiled up at him before taking Baldur’s outstretched hand and smiled a bit more sweetly. He had to look like he cared, act like he cared, hell, maybe if he kept pretending to, he really would.

 

There was a soft sound of a throat clearing behind both brothers before they turned around and smiled. Thor threw his arms open and gestured the third party forward. “Anthony! This is our younger brother, Loki, he resides here at our palace as well.” A simple statement but it made the shortest brother scoff slightly as he stood there, his arms somewhat crossed as he looked at the group of them there.

 

“Mother has told me to inform you both to allow our guest to eat. He was late for supper and so must eat before he bathes and rests,” Loki stated, his tone fairly flat, though picks up on odd bits here and there for the others to know the key words. He has nothing on but what looks like a green silk shirt that matches his eyes and a pair of tighter black pants. He didn’t look one bit cold out there though, so Tony was impressed with that at least.

 

The two brothers retreated into the castle first, talking with each other about the week to come, leaving Tony with this Loki fellow. Who he knew about but had never actually met. But before he could get another word out, he heard a hiss of words from the raven-haired brother.

 

“Both of my brothers have interests of their hearts already. If you so much as play with them and make them regret any decisions involving you in any way, I will make you regret your choice until the day you die,” Loki spat out. He looked like he was about to turn around and strut inside, but Tony managed to grab his wrist before he did.

 

“Hey. If you don’t want them hurt, volunteer yourself instead.” He was being truthful in his statement. The youngest brother looked like he was protective of them as much as so far he didn’t look like he got along with them. But Loki chuckled before he released Tony’s grip on him, eyes looking up into the Protector’s for a second before almost looking vicious.

 

“Only in your nightmares, Stark.”

 

* * *

 

 

Dinner went by pretty peacefully. No one really joined him, he ate in silence and alone. The difference in food wasn’t too big though, no massive culture clashing between a cliff and forest, he was a little disappointed but not entirely, at least he knew he could eat the meal without having to throw it up later or swallow his own- Nope, he was glad. He really was. So cleaning his plate off was pretty easy for him, he finished and slid his chair back, thanking the empty room for the meal before he pulled his coat off finally and threw it over his shoulder before he left the room.

 

The halls of the palace were busy enough. Maids and butlers running around in circles listening to one demand after another and just busying themselves with their regular work. Tony managed to stop one for directions to his room before they scurried off again, whispering probably gossip to another maid about the Protector choosing their family to connect to or something like that. Really he didn’t bother too much with it because they didn’t point him to his room they pointed him to the library. Yeah, unless he was sleeping on a bookcase he was definitely at the wrong place.

 

There was no harm in looking around though, so he welcomed himself in, the double doors closing behind him with a _slam_ as he kept walking forwards into the books beyond books. There were stories, fiction, biographies, and journals, almost everything you could think of. Oddly though, his own library at home was still bigger. He pouted softly when he couldn’t find anything too interesting to read, so grabbed the nearest interesting looking book and headed over to the couch he had seen earlier from the corner of his eye. He run up to it and hopped over the back of it to drop down, twirling himself on the spot to let his feet hang over the end of the couch and his head drop down.

 

Welp, he wasn’t alone on the couch it seemed.

 

“Uhm, hello again, Loki,” he managed to chuckle out, his tone weak and embarrassed, but like hell he would ever act nervous or anything around strangers. Besides this one little moment. Haha, whoops.

 

“Anthony.” The tone from the prince wasn’t anything harsh, more curious and amused to what the Protector had done. “May I ask why you are here and not in your quarters for the night? We arranged a bath and rest for you after your meal.” He didn’t even point out the elephant in the room.

 

After a blink from Tony, who was oddly comfortable with his head in the prince’s lap, he shrugged softly. “A maid pointed me here after I asked where my room was anyways. So now I’m here. I was going to read a book then try to find my room after I was done.” He opened the book to the first page then blinked again. Well fuck. “What language do you guys speak here that makes this book impossible to read? I thought we had a universal language here on Estardiem?”

 

Loki let a bit of a chuckle slip from his lips before he took the book and scanned it over. “It is because this is a book I brought back from travels one day. It is written in the language of another race than ours.” He handed the book back to him. “It is written in the language of Jotunheim. As much as we have our universal language it doesn’t mean that others can not make their own. Though it is only just a fairytale, Anthony. Any particular reason you chose this one?” He cocked a brow upwards before Tony began flipping through it again.

 

“No idea why I chose it. But if you can understand it, want to read it to me? Or help me learn the language anyways because someone wants me to be a princess of a kingdom so I might as well learn a couple languages, you know?” He held the book high, wagging it around in Loki’s face a bit before the other just muttered something under his breath and took the book.

 

“I can help you translate it. And since you are here for a week I suppose I can teach you as much of the language as I possibly can manage,” he finally gave in, his voice dropping lower than before, a sign of defeat, though with a tone of utter annoyance. Tony was persistent and he knew that if he didn’t give in eventually that Tony was just going to get more and more annoying. So it was better to give in now than not.

 

Tony threw his hands in the air with a ‘ _whoop_ ’, Loki muttering a simple “ _Childish…_ ” before the conversation finished, Tony still looking overjoyed and up at Loki with expectations. The eye roll from the prince was almost able to he heard as he let out a soft sigh and opened the book to the first page. “Do you even know what this book is called, Anthony?” he asked at last before he flipped to the first page.

 

Tony gave a generic shrug on Loki’s lap before he crossed his arms over his torso lightly, waiting for the story. “No, not really. I liked the pictures though, so I thought it was a good start for something to try and translate when I was bored.”

The prince shot an eyebrow up at the casual comment coming from under his chin level. “Really? You were going to translate an entire book from a foreign language from boredom?” He highly doubted it, but this was a Protector he was talking to, and this Protector did have some of the highest results recorded of all of the Protectors through the ages. One of the few above him still was his parents.

 

The one thing that Anthony didn’t know though was the fact that the language spoken in Jotunheim had no relations to any other language, a usual trick to translating most scripts from one to another. But the brunette in his lap seemed determined to surprise the prince more and more. “The kid in this has a dog named Fenrir?”

 

Loki blinked and looked down at the page he was open on, scanned the page briefly, and there in the last sentence, still written in the foreign language, was a simple sentence: ‘His dogs name was Fenrir.’. How Anthony had even gotten close to actually translating any of that without any help astounded Loki. He smiled softly though and nodded. “Yes. The story is about a child and his dog named Fenrir,” he stated simply before beginning to read the story itself to Tony.

 

The story wasn’t going to last more than twenty minutes of reading time, it was a children’s book to be simply put. The wording was simple and blunt, making sure anything was easily understood. But he knew by this point that all he needed was to be read it and memorize the words before being given the book and Tony would be able to begin picking apart the language, making it his new project while he was taking residence at the palace. Tony had taken the book from Loki after and began to read it himself in translating it, but after he had the book down pat in English after a good thirty minutes he looked back up at Loki.

 

“Hey, now how do you pronounce these words? I can translate it pretty fluently now, but it’s not much help unless I know how to say all these things in their native tongue,” the request was simply put, just like the story but in Anthony’s own way. Loki was going to have to teach him about the language, but really, that could wait for another day, he was beginning to grow tired from all this reading and teaching Tony the book.

 

“Anthony, I would _adore_ to continue teaching you the language, you are a much better pupil than either of my brothers; but we must both retire for the night. You have yet to have even bathe. So I suggest doing so then resting, and next time we meet, we will begin.” He closed the book in Tony’s hands before the man could protest, and smiled softly. “Take it with you, and when we see each other next, I would gladly see what you have managed on your own.” He pushed Tony off his legs just gently enough that Tony had to sit up, the book now cradled in his arms as he watched the form on Loki slink out of the library, a wave of his hand and a modest ‘good night’ from his lips, before he heard the door close behind the prince.


	6. Chapter 6

Alright so here's the dealio. I kinda died for a long time if people can't tell. [The few people who do notice.] In that time I managed to completely change my writing style so this story is hard to write right now because of that. I will be starting to rewrite each chapter into my current style so that I can keep working on it. I have this generally mapped out though some small changes will come around here and there.

 

So soon enough I will be rebooting this and rewriting chapters. Starting with the first official chapter that isn't the intro. I don't care about that it can stay. c:

 

Hope to see you all around!

 

If you care to you can come bother me on tumblr while I work on writing things. Haha.

[subuniversal.tumblr.com](subuniversal.tumblr.com)


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